


Between You and Me and the Staten Island Ferry

by Robin Hood (kjack89)



Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Marriage Proposal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-15
Updated: 2017-07-15
Packaged: 2018-12-02 12:47:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,550
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11509752
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kjack89/pseuds/Robin%20Hood
Summary: When Carisi runs into Barba somewhere unexpected, he's more than a little suspicious of what, exactly, Barba's up to.





	Between You and Me and the Staten Island Ferry

**Author's Note:**

> Hey fellow Barisi shippers. If you're on tumblr, you know that the past few days have been...interesting, to say the least. This isn't really the platform for it, for a variety of reason, but I do want to say one thing, and leave it at that: I wrote my first slash fanfic in 2005 when I was 16. It shipped two straight male characters from a police procedural TV show (because apparently I've always been trash). That TV show went off the air in 2015. My ship never became canon. In fact, I can't think of a single ship from an American broadcast television show between two male characters both presented as straight that ever went on to become canon.
> 
> But here's the thing — I didn't then and I don't care now about my ship becoming canon. My enjoyment of a TV show and my enjoyment of (and consumption and production of) fanfic are not contingent on each other. I'm perfectly capable of watching, say, Barson become canon and still be able to turn around the explore the dynamic and the potential between Barba and Carisi. Importantly, I'm also capable of doing so without throwing hate at someone on either side of the ships.
> 
> Which is all to say, I'm sticking with this ship for the foreseeable future, regardless of what does and does not become canon. The only thing I have to worry about is eventually changing my tags from 'Alternate Universe - Canon' to 'Alternate Universe - Canon Divergent'. I think I can handle that. And to those who for whatever reason feel so threatened by that that they must fall back on vitriol hidden behind anonymity, bring it on. I've been doing this for a long time, and my ships have outlasted more than you can throw at us.
> 
> Anyway, all that aside, here's some fluff to try to bring some sunshine back to the fandom, because I love you guys and I love most of all how incredibly supportive you all are. Hold onto that, and we'll make it through just fine.
> 
> Usual disclaimer. Title comes from the Billy Joel song "Everybody Loves You Now" which has nothing to do with this fic. Please be kind and tip your fanfic writers in the form of comments and/or kudos!

Carisi was very nearly late to the ferry, since his human alarm clock had, for some reason, woken up unreasonably early and abandoned him with not even a note as to where he was going. Of course, Carisi wasn’t surprised by this — Barba had been tightly wound the entire night before, and while he had shrugged it off as a case going poorly and assumed it meant Barba would be spending his Saturday in his office, that didn’t mean Carisi didn’t wake up a little disappointed that Barba wasn’t there to greet him with coffee and kisses.

Coffee being frankly the more important of the two, at least before 8 a.m.

Still, if Barba wanted to spend the day in his office, Carisi wasn’t going to blame him, especially since he was ditching him for the day to help his older sister, Gina, shop for yet another wedding dress for yet another wedding he was fairly confident wasn’t going to actually happen. How, precisely, he, the only son among three daughters, got roped into wedding dress shopping was completely beyond him, save for the fact that when any of his sisters called him crying, Carisi was helpless to do anything but say yes to whatever they wanted.

In any case, the need for coffee was what made Carisi almost late for the ferry, since he had to stop by the bodega to grab some. Not that he didn't trust the coffee on the ferry, but there was something about bodega coffee that just tasted better.

Or so he told himself, anyway, as he was sprinting across the terminal to catch the ferry before it pulled away and he had to wait another half hour for the next one.

What he was not expecting, as he took a sip of coffee and strolled down the deck of the ferry to try and stop from wheezing rather embarrassingly, was to run into the man who had almost made him late, leaning against the rail of the ferry deck and checking his email on his phone. "What the hell are you doing here?" Carisi asked, stopping in his tracks.

Barba looked up at him, blinking with confusion, before he broke into a smile. "Nice to see you, too," he said, crossing to Carisi and reaching up to kiss him, and no matter the fact that they had been together for over a year now, Carisi still got the same warm feeling in his chest when Barba was willing to engage in open displays of affection.

"I haven't had enough caffeine yet to be nice," Carisi said, though he wrapped his arms around Barba anyway. "And you know that's your fault." He narrowed his eyes at Barba. "But seriously, what are you doing heading to Staten Island? I thought you were at the office."

Barba shrugged. "Actually, I'm consulting on a case for the Richmond County DA, and they needed me to come into their office." He said the words casually enough, but Carisi still frowned at him, as if he didn't quite believe him.

Because he didn't. Because he could think of no case that would require Barba to schlep out to Staten Island, nor could he think of any circumstance where Barba would agree to do that anyway.

But Barba was smiling up at him and Carisi didn’t feel the need to press the issue. The ride to Staten Island was only 25 minutes long anyway, and he had better things to do in those 25 minutes, like rest his cheek against the top of Barba's head and pull him in a little closer, all while trying to drink his coffee without spilling it.

Holding Barba was important — caffeine, if he was about to be dealing with Gina all day, was more important.

Once they arrived at St. George terminal, Barba smirked up at Carisi. "Have fun with your sister," he said, in a way that suggested that he knew Carisi was not going to have fun and that he found that far more amusing than he should.

Carisi bent down and kissed him. "Have fun with the Richmond County DA's office," he said, in a way that he hoped suggested he knew that wasn't where Barba was heading and that he'd get the truth out of him sooner rather than later.

Barba just rolled his eyes and waved, watching as Carisi crossed to where Gina was waiting for him in her car. Gina frowned at Barba through the windshield as Carisi settled into her front seat. "Should I be worried about why your boyfriend's here?" she asked.

"Nah," Carisi said dismissively. "If I’m not worried, there’s no need for you to be worried."

* * *

 

But he was worried.

Granted, looking at wedding dresses wasn't the sort of thing that would hold his interest for long anyway, but Carisi was distracted all day, checking his phone for a text from Barba so often that he barely even noticed the parade of dresses that Gina tried on, approving each one with a vague, "You look perfect" or "He's a lucky man."

Gina finally came out of the dressing room with her hands on her hips. "Dominick Carisi Jr., are you even paying attention to me?" she demanded.

Carisi looked up, startled. "Huh?" he asked.

Gina rolled her eyes and plopped down next to him. "Honestly, Sonny, this is the most important day of my life," she huffed. "Would it kill you to try?"

Carisi bit back his automatic retort that if this was the most important day of her life, than what did that make the previous four weddings she had planned but not actually gone through with, but only because it _was_ supposed to be her day and he did feel a little guilty. "Sorry," he said, pocketing his phone. "Doesn't really matter anyway. I was just hoping that Rafi would text. Maybe wanna grab lunch or something."

"Do you think he's cheating on you?"

Carisi stared at her, his mouth suddenly going dry with panic before he came to his senses. "Why would you even say something like that?" he demanded.

Gina shrugged. "What other explanation is there?" she asked.

"Like literally any other explanation, Gina, Jesus,” Carisi huffed, running a hand through his hair. “I mean, Christ, just because _your_ fiancé—” He broke off at the look on her face and took a deep breath before continuing, his voice light as he attempted to lighten the mood, “Look, even if Rafael was gonna cheat on me — which he definitely isn’t, and definitely wouldn’t — he wouldn’t pick someone from Staten Island. He barely tolerates my accent as it is. I can’t imagine him voluntarily sleeping with someone else with the same accent, let alone coming all the way out to Staten Island to do it.”

Gina’s lips quirked slightly but she didn’t laugh. “Your boyfriend’s a snob,” she said instead.

Carisi shrugged. “Yeah, but he’s a snob who loves me, so I tolerate it.” He poked her in the stomach and she giggled and pushed him away. “Now go put that mermaid-y dress back on and let me see it again. I think that might be the one.”

Though Gina again rolled her eyes, she obeyed, standing and heading back toward the dressing room, though she paused and looked back at him. “I really hope he isn’t cheating on you, Sonny,” she said. “I like him, even if he is a snob.”

Carisi rolled his eyes but smiled fondly. “Yeah, I like him, too. And he isn’t cheating on me.”

“Good,” Gina said, disappearing back into the dressing room, though she called through the door, “Just as long as you don’t do something stupid like get married before me.”

“If you ever actually get married,” Carisi muttered, though not loudly enough for Gina to hear him. He thought about pulling out his phone again, about texting Barba, filling him in on Gina’s wild theory, but he decided against it.

Whatever Barba was up to, Carisi trusted him.

Or at the very least, he trusted him enough to be able to leave his phone in his pocket and to give his sister a genuine smile when she reemerged wearing the wedding dress.

* * *

 

Carisi’s trust, however, didn’t extend past 5pm when he had still received no text or call from Barba. “Are you sure you don’t want to come to Mom and Dad’s for dinner?” Gina asked, idling in the drop-off zone at the ferry landing. “Ma’s making lasagna.”

“Yeah, I’m sure,” Carisi said, leaning over to kiss Gina’s cheek. “I gotta get home.”

“You mean you’ve got an ADA you need to interrogate,” Gina said with a smirk.

Carisi didn’t bother denying it. “Give everyone my apologies,” he said instead, sliding out of the car. “I’ll see ya when I see ya.”

“Kick his ass, Sonny!” Gina called after him, and Carisi rolled his eyes and waved over his shoulder as he headed into the terminal. Once again, his timing was impeccable, as he got on the ferry just before it left, and once again, he ran into someone he didn’t expect.

“Are you stalking me, Counselor?” Carisi asked, wrapping his arms around Barba’s shoulders from behind and kissing his cheek.

Barba scrunched his nose and turned around to kiss Carisi properly. “I could ask you the same thing,” he said, smirking. “Do I need to file a temporary restraining order, or…?”

Carisi pulled back slightly and gave Barba the most serious expression he could muster at the moment (which, frankly, was not all that serious). “That depends — are you gonna tell me what you were actually doing on Staten Island?”

“Is that meant to be a threat, Detective?” Barba asked, clearly amused.

Shrugging, Carisi leaned in to kiss Barba again. “Maybe,” he said, before adding bluntly, “But either way, you should tell me.”

“You have all the subtlety of a foghorn,” Barba said, but with affection, before telling him dismissively, “It’s nothing you need to worry about right now.”

“Right now?” Carisi asked, suspicious. “So when do I need to worry about it?”

Barba rolled his eyes. “This is the problem with dating a detective,” he mused. “You turn everything into an interrogation and you have no appreciation for well-intended subterfuge.”

“What are you talking about?” Carisi asked, but Barba didn’t answer, instead lacing his fingers with Carisi’s and tugging him toward the far side of the ferry, the side crowded with tourists taking pictures of the Statue of Liberty lit by the setting sun.

“This isn’t where I wanted to do this,” Barba said with a sigh, glancing around at the tourists, and Carisi felt something like panic sink into his chest.

Before he could stop himself, before he could fully realize how big of an idiot he was being, he blurted, “Are you breaking up with me?”

Barba stared at him. “You’re an idiot,” he said impatiently, but it was with his usual smirk and followed by him leaning in to kiss Carisi. “Of course I’m not breaking up with you.”

“Then what were you _not_ planning on doing here?” Carisi asked, a little rankled.

Barba rolled his eyes. "You're a decorated detective with the NYPD", he said with as much patience as he could muster. "This should not be that difficult for you to figure out." When Carisi just stared at him, Barba sighed and asked, "Who do you and I both know who lives on Staten Island?"

"Uh, my parents, my sisters, uh...probably other assorted relatives," Carisi said, not seeing where this was going.

"Right. Your parents. So tell me, why would I want to go see your parents?" Carisi continued to just stare at him and Barba sighed again and reached up to pat his cheek condescendingly. "You're lucky I'm the brains in this relationship. I had a question for your father."

Carisi knew he should be insulted by that but he chose not to focus on it. "You had a question for my..."

He trailed off when Barba pulled a ring box out of his coat pocket, a soft sort of smile on his face. "I'm sorry to do this in such a cliched way," Barba said, smirking, "but you really didn't leave me much choice."

Before Carisi could even process what was happening, Barba got down on one knee and Carisi couldn’t do anything except stare at him, wide-eyed. “You asked my dad for permission to marry me?” he asked, his voice coming out as a high-pitched squeak, and Barba rolled his eyes.

“Well, I mostly wanted to see how many goats he was planning on offering as your dowry, but I settled for asking for his blessing,” he said, still smirking. “Now are you going to actually let me ask you the question, or…” Carisi just nodded silently and Barba took his hand, his smirk softening into a genuine, radiant smile. “You make me happier than I ever thought I could be,” Barba told him simply. “Sonny, will you—”

“Yes,” Carisi said, pulling him to his feet and kissing him soundly while the assembled tourists on the deck of the ferry who had taken a break from their selfies to watch the proposal burst into applause.

“You couldn’t even let me get the question out,” Barba complained, but he was smiling in that wide way that crinkled his eyes and Carisi couldn’t help but kiss him again.

When they broke apart next, Barba pulled the ring from the box and slid it onto Carisi’s finger, lifting his hand to his lips so that he could press a kiss to Carisi’s ring finger. “I had it all planned out,” Barba said, a little apologetically. “There was going to be dinner and champagne and—”

“Nah,” Carisi said, wrapping an arm around Barba’s shoulders and resting his cheek against Barba’s head as they turned to look at the Statue of Liberty and Manhattan skyline. “This was perfect.” He turned to press a kiss to the top of Barba’s head. “I wouldn’t change a thing.”

“Yeah,” Barba said, closing his eyes as he leaned against his fiancé, the perfect picture of contentment. “Me neither.”

Carisi couldn’t seem to stop grinning, and frankly, he wasn’t sure he ever wanted to. “I love you.”

Barba opened one eye to smirk up at him. “God, I’d hope so, or this whole engagement thing would be a pretty big mistake, don’t you think?”

“I can’t believe my dad actually told you that you could marry me,” Carisi said, rolling his eyes. “Smartass.” He suddenly stiffened, remembering for the first time where Gina was heading after dropping him off at the ferry. “Oh, shit. Gina’s gonna kill me for getting engaged right before her wedding.”

Barba shrugged unconcernedly. “Better you than me. Especially since that _is_ part of the reason why I wanted to wait, but _no_ , you insisted.”

Carisi glared at him. “What, you think she’ll spare you her wrath just because you _planned_ on waiting? She’ll murder us both in our bed, you realize.”

Barba just grinned and raised Carisi’s hand to his lips again. “Still worth it.”

And as Carisi watched the ring on his finger catch the light from the setting sun, he couldn’t help but agree. “Yeah,” he said, kissing Barba once more. “Still worth it.”


End file.
